Dayton Moore has pushed all his chips in and is riding on King/Jack suited, hoping it comes together, he gets some good luck, and he hits the nuts by the river card. There's potential, oh yes, there's potential. There's also risk.

At the midway point, Dayton is left counting on the river card. The flop and turn didn't help him, and he's looking at the Tigers holding a pair of Queens and the Indians holding a pair of 9s. His 2013 plan hasn't failed - yet - but the odds are not in his favor.

Burning questions updates below.

Burning Questions for 2013:

1) Will the improve rotation be improved enough? Does James Shields pitch like a fringe No. 1 away from Tampa Bay? Does Ervin Santana pitch to his highest upside in his walk year? Can Jeremy Guthrie build on his strong performance as a Royal in 2012? Can Wade Davis bring his new mentality- and velocity - back to the rotation?

Midseason check-in: Yes, the rotation is certainly improved enough. Shields has pitched like a fringe No. 1 and Santana is having his best season. Guthrie has horrible peripherals but has continued to perform well at his home park and eat innings on the road. Davis brought neither his kick-ass mentality or improved velocity back to the rotation and is in Luke Hochevar/Hiram Davies territory.

2) When will Luke Hochevar be shown the door?Midseason check-in: It appears, never, at this point. Hochevar has been solid in non-leverage situations, though pretty much every time he has been used with men on base in an inning, it has been a disaster.

3) Does Hosmer bounce back?Midseason check-in: It took some time, but Hosmer's performance from June 1 on is probably the most encouraging thing about the 2013 season so far.
4) Can Moustakas hit for a whole season like he did in the first half of 2012?Midseason check-in: Nope. Moustakas was god-awful, then great for about 3 weeks, then god-awful again. He has been better since he started working with Brett and Grafol but still has a long way to go.
5) Who regresses? Midseason check-in: Welp, Alicides Escobar is not a surprising name here (though Yost's stubborn insistence on hitting him second is ridiculous). Billy Butler is a surprise. He isn't having a terrible year - still contributing a lot to the offense - but he's not hitting for the average or power he has displayed over the past several years.
6) Who plays 2B?Midseason check-in: A whole bunch of people, and not that great. Gio is at least getting a shot, though he once again is not doing much with it.
7) Can Jeff Francoeur be at least replacement level, rather than epic horrible level?Midseason check-in: Hahahahahahahahahahaha
8) Will Dayton Moore survive to see 2014?Midseason check-in: Outlook uncertain. Probably still around, unless the team completely tanks in the second half and he does something foolish. My guess - he sacrifices Ned Yost this offseason and gets one more shot with a new manager in 2014.
9) Will Danny Duffy come back healthy? And if he does, is he the same, better or worse?Midseason check-in: Yes. Velocity looks the same, and it looks likely he is the same guy as before.
10) And the big one: Has KC added enough to run down the big-money Detroit Tigers?Midseason check-in: Doesn't look like it, does it?

Players we should seriously look at, if they are available, imo:
Stanton
Lawrie
Kipnis

I don't see any reason either Lawrie or Kipnis will be available. Both are young, cheap and controlled for 3+ years or more. The Indians, fresh off a wildcard, certainly aren't going to trade their best everyday player. And the Blue Jays shopping Lawrie would be a shock at this point. They still have aspersions on "competing" as long as Anthopolous is the GM (he has to try, after pushing all in before this season).

Stanton might be available, but he will be the prize of the offseason (And likely costs a ton in trade chips... that means 2/3 of Ventura, Duffy and Zimmer, plus substantial pieces).

Also, to those shopping Billy Butler... His trade value is going to be depressed, and I don't think KC can afford to trade him unless it clearly wins the trade (something that is made harder to do considering the season he just had).

KC needs to get better on offense. Add more pieces. Butler isn't a superstar, but he is a star MLB hitter. KC needs more of those, not less.

“We’re not abandoning what we’ve started,” Moore said. “As I’ve said before, I feel we’re in the beginning stages of a window where I think this team has a chance to win consistently for a period of time.

“You certainly try to add a player or two, but I think our offense has trended upward. I think it will continue to get better as we move forward.”

Yost said last week that he believed the Royals needed to add “a bat” to a lineup that finished the season ranked 11th among the 15 American League teams in scoring.

On reflection, Yost qualified his statement: “We probably do need a bat, but you can legitimately make an argument for everybody coming back and having better offensive years next year…

“There’s nobody who you’re looking at (on the current roster) who is declining.”

Tellingly, perhaps, the Royals’ attack perked up over the last two months, when it benefited from the acquisitions of outfielder Justin Maxwell from Houston and second baseman Emilio Bonifacio from Toronto.

After averaging 3.94 runs through July, the Royals scored at a 4.10 pace over the final 58 games. The Royals were also 43-27 after the All-Star break after going 43-49 beforehand.

That second-half surge validated a spring belief among club officials that the Royals would improve as the season unfolded.